Cars 2 was the first Pixar Cars film to feature international spy missions as a major storyline.
Released in 2011, Cars 2 follows Mater after he is mistaken for an American secret agent during the World Grand Prix. He works with Finn McMissile and Holley Shiftwell while Lightning McQueen competes in races across Japan, Italy, and the United Kingdom.
The original Cars, released in 2006, is primarily a road-trip and personal-growth story set around Radiator Springs. Cars 3, released in 2017, returns to a more focused racing and mentorship narrative involving Lightning, Cruz Ramirez, and Jackson Storm.
Cars 2 was directed by John Lasseter and Brad Lewis. Its international locations and espionage elements make it structurally different from the other feature films in the series. The franchise later expanded with the Disney+ series Cars on the Road, but that series is not a theatrical feature film.